It’s 2024! Gone are the days where all you need as a comedian is a great act and a car to get around town (and the country) to perform anywhere and everywhere…Honestly, i wasn’t around during those days so I am sure even back then it wasn’t that easy!
In today’s world, if you want to stand out as a stand up, you have to consider your online presence. There is a lot to this, and you are in charge of how “into it” you want to get. When comedy was just a side hustle and hobby to me, I didn’t care much about my online presence and that was okay…because it wasn’t my job. Now that I’m trying to support myself financially, I have accepted the fact that caring about views, visits, likes, follows, and all that crap, is almost essential to getting to the places that I want to go.
It’s not my favorite part of the entertainment business, but i tell myself all jobs have parts that we don’t like very much!
There are a lot of different ways to have an online presence and I am going to dive deeper into a few of them in this article. As always, I am writing this early on a Sunday morning and not intending to do an all-inclusive list…if I leave something out feel free to mention below in the comments section!
As a comedian, here are some things you may want to look into having to increase your “digital footprint”
Social Media
Right off the bat, this is probably the obvious one! If you haven’t yet, get yourself a Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, and/or twitter, and whatever else is new and happening for social media by the time you are reading this article. You for sure don’t need all of them, but pick the ones that you like the most and that you think your audience would be the most into.
I have a comedy Facebook page, Instagram, and Tiktok. I recommend getting each of those but then that will mean regularly posting on all of them. When you first start, maybe it’s easier to just get one that you use the most and I highly recommend Instagram. But you do you!
Currently, it seems Facebook is doing better with posts (images, status updates, promoting your shows, etc.) and paid promotion, where as Tiktok is more for reels. (Comedy clips, sketches, whatever kind of short video content you’d want to do) I like Instagram because people use it for both of those things!
I’ll probably do another blog post later with more details on social media and posting but for now I’ll leave the advice at this. When you are starting out, it’s a good idea to have a place to post about upcoming shows and maybe some reels of your standup. At the start, encourage friends and family to follow you to build those numbers (also they’ll want to see your standup life a little!). As you develop, this will be a place where your audience will grow which is very important to get booked in bigger rooms!
As a comedian if you really want to develop a larger following I highly suggest creating reels of “non standup related” content. People want to get to know you as a person (or your “character” to be more specific), and a minute or less clip of you telling jokes doesn’t do that very well. This is why many comedians will post sketches, goofy videos, videos of them just sharing about whatever, and podcast clips.
If goofy dances or sketches makes you feel uncomfortable, that’s okay…you don’t HAVE to do them! But, I encourage you to find what kind of online content you are comfortable with and post that in addition to your standup. For me personally, sharing clips of my podcast is a way I hope online people get to know my “character” better, and then ideally want to check out my standup, and then hopefully, pay me millions of dollars to come perform at their event!
A YouTube Channel
YouTube has many features that are similar to the social medias that I mentioned earlier, but it’s big difference is that you can upload longer videos. Once you have some full sets you’d like to “get out there”, whether that’s for your friends to see, or to have videos that you can submit to comedy clubs or festivals, you’ll want to have a YouTube account.
For your really good videos, go ahead and set them on public and let anyone who wants to see them come check them out. If you are hesitant about putting up all your routines online, you can always put something up and mark it as Unlisted. By doing that, you can still share the video with potential bookers while not sharing it “with the rest of the world”
Additionally, if you’re going to post reels with any kind of regularity, I recommend posting them as YouTube shorts as well! (Any video that is less then a minute can be a reel/YouTube short) YouTube has a way bigger audience and it seems to me to be the platform that gets the most views, the easiest.
A Website
Everybody has social media, so it’s not that hard as an artist to create your own pages via social media. However, creating your own website puts you slightly above the rest of the competition, and makes you look slightly more professional.
The thing with most sites (maybe all) is that you will have to pay a little to keep one up, but it’s not a whole lot and it’s a good first investment in your comedy career to gain some street credit. Even just hearing the phrase “Go to my website” verses “check out my Facebook page” sounds better, right?
Since it’s your website, you can add whatever you want to it but here are some suggestions:
Videos
(Having a YouTube channel first is a good idea)
A biography and some Images of you
(When did you get started in comedy, tell us a little about you, etc.)
Upcoming Shows
(promo pics and ticket links are great here too)
Links to your social media and a contact email
(Get yourself a comedy email, even something like “Drewdaviscomedy@gmail.com”
Before you get a website, if you want a free alternative I highly suggest getting a link tree, which is a free site where you can post a bunch of links to your other stuff. A lot of comic link trees have links to all their social media, their youtube, and maybe to certain upcoming shows where people can buy tickets to. This serves as a great “first website” because it’s a central location of YOU that you can point people to...and it’s free!
You can get a link tree HERE!
You can also view mine HERE!
An Electronic Press Kit
A Electronic Press Kit (EPK for sure) is basically just a website…but the difference that it’s a website specifically made to send to bookers.
Your regular website is for your fans or anyone wanting to learn more about you. Your EPK, on the other hand, is for the people that are interested in hiring you!
Most EPK’s are more short and to the point, but with all the essential details of you. Here is the kind of info that you want to put in your EPK.
Videos of varying set lengths
(Eventually you’ll want one of each: 5 mins, 10-15 mins, 20-30 mins, and 45+ mins)
Downloadable Headshots and Pics of you
(That they can use for promo)
A Professional Bio and your Credits
Social Media Links and Contact Info
(Email and Phone Number)
I actually offer a service where I make basic EPKs for comedians, and if you want more information about that, you can learn about it
Here’s an example of the EPK I can create for you
(feel free to look at it and get a good idea of what to make for yourself!)
I hope this helps you think about how to increase your online presence in the entertainment world! You don’t have to do all of this, you don’t even have to do any of this…but I highly recommend doing SOME of this to help increase your brand and following.
Did I leave anything out? Do you have any thoughts, comments, or questions? If so please feel to comment below!
